Kurdish fighters have expelled Islamic State group militants from inside the Syrian border town of Kobane, a monitor says, dealing a key symbolic blow to the jihadists’ ambitions.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said fighters from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) had pushed ISIL militants out of the town after four months of fighting.

In Iraq meanwhile, a senior army officer announced that Iraqi forces had also “liberated” Diyala province from the Islamic State group.

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Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP on Monday that YPG forces had “expelled all Islamic State fighters from Kobane and have full control of the town”.

“The Kurds are pursuing some jihadists on the eastern outskirts of Kobane, but there is no more fighting inside now.”

There was no immediate official announcement from the YPG, but Mustafa Ebdi, an activist from the town, said “fighting has stopped” in Kobane.

YPG forces were “advancing carefully in Maqtala because of the threat of mines and car bombs,” he added.

The advance by Kurdish fighters came after 24 hours of heavy bombing by the US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq.

In a statement, the Pentagon said the coalition had carried out 17 air strikes against IS positions in Kobane in the 24 hours from January 25 alone.

The targets included “tactical units” and “fighting positions” as well as an IS vehicle and staging areas, the statement said.

The loss of Kobane would be a key symbolic blow against IS, which has lost more than 1000 fighters since it began its advance on the town on September 16.

Analysts say the loss of Kobane is also a strategic blow for ISIL, which set its sights on the small town in a bid to cement its control over a long stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border.

– AAP